LOS ANGELES — This might be remembered as the autumn when network TV executives fell head over
heels in love — with the DVR.

Not that long ago, digital video recorders were seen as a threat to broadcast television, much
as VCRs were viewed as a killer for the movie business 30 years ago.

How could any contraption that allowed viewers to skip commercials from sponsors be good for the
TV business?

Armed with special data from Nielsen, executives are trumpeting the big viewership gains that
their shows are seeing as much as a week after original airdates.

The “DVR lift” has become increasingly important as each network decides which new fall shows to
keep and which to ax in October.

“How different it feels with all these different waves of (audience) measurement coming in,”
said Jeff Bader, the top scheduler at NBC — which has netted big DVR gains for
The Blacklist, its new crime drama starring James Spader. “All of us are starting to
really look at how we’re gauging success.”

Within a week of its Sept. 23 premiere,
The Blacklist had been seen by an impressive 18.3 million viewers — with 5.7 million
watching after the night that the show had originally aired, according to Nielsen.

DVR gains were also significant for
Sleepy Hollow, Fox’s spin on the Washington Irving horror tale. The premiere audience rose
from a respectable 8.6 million to a robust 13.5 million after DVR viewers were added.

The changing perspective on DVR viewership has TV bosses at every network feeling good about
their fall slates for the first time in several seasons.

Joining
TheBlacklist and
Sleepy Hollow on the roster of shows already picked up for a full season are
The Crazy Ones, the CBS sitcom starring Robin Williams; and ABC’s comic-book caper
Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. — both of which had big gains from DVR playback.
(Technically,
Sleepy Hollow was picked up for a second season of 13 episodes.)

“All of network TV is having a better fall,” said Dan Harrison, scheduling chief at Fox.

Thanks to NFL football games on Sunday nights plus singing-competition hit
The Voice, NBC led the broadcasters through the first few weeks of the season in the
critical age 18 to 49 demographic. Total viewing is even up slightly compared with a year ago on
the four major networks: ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox.

But fall has also produced high-profile duds. NBC canceled
Ironside, its low-rated retread of the 1970s detective classic, as well as the comedy
Welcome to the Family. Despite high hopes, the network has drawn terrible numbers for
The Michael J. Fox Show, a comedy starring the former
Family Ties actor, but has given it a full-season pickup.

Meanwhile, CBS axed the comedy
We Are Men.

Another concern is sagging ratings for some returning series, such as the Fox singing contest
The X Factor and CBS’ aging sitcom
Two and a Half Men.

More troubling, the audience for broadcast TV continues to age. ABC, CBS and NBC all have median
ages higher than 50, meaning that most of their viewers are well outside the 18-to-49 demographic
that appeals to advertisers.